Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, desperate for a victory,
declared last week that Fallujah had been liberated. Iraqi commanders
said they were just clearing remaining pockets of Islamic State
fighters. But U.S. military officials said
the battle for the iconic Islamic State stronghold is far from over,
and that only roughly one-third of the city had been recaptured from the
jihadist group.

It’s clear the clashes are continuing.
Black smoke rose from airstrikes in the north of the city over the
weekend, and the rattle of heavy machine gun fire and the thud of
mortars echoed from adjoining neighborhoods.

Tens of thousands of civilians have managed to flee unharmed, but now face another struggle
for survival in makeshift desert camps without enough water or even
toilets and where health care workers say they are treating over 1,000
undernourished people per day.

After the Iraqi government unexpectedly launched the Fallujah battle in
May, it took five weeks to fight into the center of the city. Retaking
the provincial capital of Ramadi this year took 18 months and left the
city heavily damaged.

In fact at least 80,000 people stayed in Fallujah, and almost all of
them are now under suspicion by security forces of supporting the
Islamic State. As the families have escaped the city, Iraqi security
forces have separated the men and older boys from their families, taking
them away for screening. They spend days in an overcrowded warehouse
with little food or water, where security forces lack the computers
necessary to verify their identities.

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